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Escape

You find yourself walking through a lush and vibrant park, enjoying the pleasant spring afternoon. Your surroundings are as serene as could be hoped for, and the flowers are in a full and glorious bloom. Red poppies rustle in the wind, wild daffodils soak up sunlight, and buttercups bid you come and enjoy their pleasant scent. Well, you might as well take them up on that offer! You kneel amongst a gathering of the most pleasantly yellow buttercups you have ever laid eyes on. You bend over them and slowly inhale their fragrance. Ah, the sweet smell of�.wet hay? Odd, buttercups usually have a pleasant smell. You bend for another whiff, but this time you're met with an even nastier surprise. As you bend over the yellow flowers you face is hit with a painful prickling sensation. This could only mean one thing! Bees! They're swarming all over your face, down your arms, and underneath your clothes! You can feel their spiny little feet all down your skin. Your hands fly up and grab at your face, desperate to be free of the swarming insects. But though you grasped at insects, what you now hold in you hand feels like nothing of the sort�

You finally open your eyes to find yourself buried, facedown in a pile of prickly hay, your clenched fists stuffed with the same. You were only dreaming � about the bees at least � but what about this?

You glance around. No park, no flowers, only cold, damp walls � and judging from the iron bars separating you from the rest of the room, you appear to be in some sort of a jail cell.

Lovely.

Juuuust lovely.

Before you even have time to despair, however, your solitude is interrupted be the snuffling entrance of a rather pudgy little tapira. With its nose pressed to the ground, it doesn't notice you, but rather makes its way around the room, inspecting every corner. When it rounds the edge of your cell, it stops short, and paws under the heavy gate of bars at what looks to be a small, dirty pie-tin filled with a pallid mush, just out of reach within your cell - Must've been your dinner.

The poor little tapira is having no luck trying to steal your food (not that you would've wanted that stuff, anyhow), you almost feel sorry for it. But then again, this hungry little thing could be of some use to you�

You glance around the room, searching for a set of keys�certainly there would be keys nearby, right? That IS how it always happens in the movie, after all.

Sure enough, across the room, you spot the telltale twinkle of a cell key. You whistle at the tapira, picking up the tin of gruel, and point at the keys. The tapira is smarter than you would've thought, it heads straight for the keys � it's clearly fetched them before. Tuppering back, you can see the drool dripping from the piggish little thing's snout as it anticipates it's reward. You reach through the bars and take the keys from it's mouth (eww, drool�) and quickly unlock the door. With your freedom secured, you set the keys and the gruel on the floor (the latter of which was summarily attacked and devoured by the tapira) and head for the door.

You step out into a dimly lit hallway which runs perpendicular to the room you just exited. Looking to your right, you see lit wall sconces scattered down the hall. The other direction is completely dark. Though the warm, flickering of the torches seems safe and comforting, it probably also indicates that someone had gone that direction recently�and judging by you recent incarceration, the people around here aren't overly friendly towards you. You'd best take the unlit route.

You make your way down the dark hallway, the warm light of the wall sconces fading quickly behind you. It's more than a little creepy wandering around this strange, cramped place�and it doesn't help that the floor beneath you seems to sway and dip even as you plod atop it. In haste and fear, you step a little livelier - and before you know it, you're nearly running down the hall, with your hand skimming the wall for guidance. There just has to be an exit somewhere around here! You nearly fall flat on your face when the hall you're following turns into a stairwell�by now there's not enough light to even see your hand in front of your face. You make your way up the stairwell, each step creaking eerily beneath your feet. Your feet move as fast as they physically can as you charge up the stairs, arms held out in front of you searching for a door. You climb higher and higher � you're almost to the top, you can feel it! Almost there�.SMACK!

You weren't expecting the stairwell to run you straight into the ceiling, were you? You stumble and fall back a few steps, rubbing the top of your head gingerly�owie�

You crawl back up to where the stair steps seemingly disappear into the wooden-plank ceiling. You still can't see a thing in the inky darkness, but as you feel along ceiling you find an iron ring hanging down, just above the last step. Ah ha! It must be a trap door! You grab onto the ring and push your body directly up, into the door. It flings open and lands with a thud and the clear, bright light of day floods in and blinds you.


The Navigator's Den

When your eyes finally adjust to the sudden brightness, you find yourself poking your head out of the floor of a densely packed room. The trap door, which you've burst through, is located in the middle of the floor, and seems to have pushed a musty but rare-looking oriental carpet out of its way in its opening. To one side of the room is a giant old wooden desk, carved intricately with nautical symbols, and piled with a slew of books, maps, charts, and other such papers. The desk takes up one entire wall, but the other walls are equally populated with cluttered bookshelves reaching the ceiling. The shelves seem to contain volume upon volume of scholarly reference books, such as the Prispian's Guide to Altadorian Constellations and Celestial Navigation and the Cartographical Study of Neopian Waterways, as well as several more interesting books such as The Sailor's Guide: Nautical Lore and Wisdom. Stacked up against every bookcase are dozens of long cylindrical tubes holding maps of every size, shape, color, and kind, in various degrees of wear and tear. Every inch of wall space is covered with either a bookcase or a navigational chart�the only spaces not covered were six equally spaced round port windows, two on each of the three walls lining the desk. The wall directly in front of the desk opened into one large window, which panned the entire length of the wall, allowing most of the sunlight in. As you survey this eclectic room around your head, you hear footsteps from behind you. You quickly turn around and look up to find a door directly behind your little hidey-hole. Seeing the silhouette of the owner of the approaching footsteps, you grab the trap door and yank it back over your head and crouch in the darkness of the cramped stairwell.

Despite the ever present danger your sense of curiosity is ever so slightly stronger than your sense of fear. So, as you hear the door creak open above you, so open your own door ever so slightly, so as to see who or what is entering. You peer through the sliver of space you've allowed yourself and look around the room. Funny�you could've sworn you hear the door of the room open and shut�yet you see no one. You push up a bit on the trap door and scan the room once again�but there's still seems to be no one in si- THUD!

A tremendous weight compresses the trapdoor above, driving it into the crown of your head and pinning you back down in the stairwell. Above you, you hear something stumbling around, followed by a loud thud.

Seems, you've tripped someone with that head of yours.


Discovery



-"Begad! What in Davy Jones' locker was that!" Booms a voice from above, "No doubt its that belligerent little deckhand loafing around the bilges again! Alright Nezzy! You've been found out, mate! Come out now and I might spare ye the cat!"

There is a banging on the trapdoor above your head, and then a sudden flush of light as the owner of the booming voice flings open the door.

-"Come out, now, ya Blaggar- oh! Well, now, you don't seem to be who I thought ye were!" The large, cream colored draik stutters as he stares down at you. He surveys you, then grabs you and lifts you out of the stairwell, and places you on the floor in front of the large wooden desk, and then turns and closes the door discretely. As he turns, you see that his entire back is covered by a scrawling tattoo, depicting a compass rose, with octopus tentacles writhing around it and a blue "water" flowing out, down his tail and up his neck. The draik's wings, though structurally more like a giant set of arms, are also covered in tattooing - the right "wing" bearing ocean waves and a sea-green sea horse, and the left patterned after a red fish's scales. After shutting the door, the draik turns back to you and looks you over once more.

-"Now, now, what have we here? I can hardly believe we'd have a stowaway, still alive and well, this far out to sea! Yet, here you are! Oh, now, don't worry your little head, there, I'm not about to hurt ye�punishing stowaways isn't in my job description, and I'm not about to do someone else's job fer em'. Now, I've got a bit of work to do�"

The draik, with a congenial nod, steps around you and pulls out a stool from beneath the desk, plops down on it and begins to shuffle though a few papers.

-"�now" the draik begins again, not looking back, but clearly addressing you, "you're welcome to go and wander the ship, and look for the first mate, if you like - it's his job to punish the stowaways. However, if you aren't in any kind've ah hurry, might I trouble you to keep me company whilst I dredge through this rather tedious map-work?"

Saying this, the draik grabs another stool and sets it near the desk, peeking over his shoulder at you and raising his brows inquisitively. Well, you're not in a hurry to be punished, are you? Better sit and hope this guy is long-winded�otherwise you might end up back in that cell.

-"Well, now, I was hoping you'd stay! My name is Avulse, Avi to me friends and to you if ye wish. I'm the navigator on this ship, if'n ye couldn't tell by the excess of maps and charts in me room, here" The draik says, turning to shake your hand with his actual arm, and gesturing towards the room with his wing-like arm.

-"Well, then what's your name? neofox418 is it? A fine name, that! Well, now, it's nice to meet you, neofox418." And with that, Avi turns to his desk and begins to ready a quill pen for writing. Apparently, he's finished socializing. You sit awkwardly on your stool for a few minutes, expecting him to pick up the conversation, but he simply begins writing in a journal while studying a map. Soooooo�what now, eh? You can't very well just walk out of the room for fear of being caught, yet just sitting here waiting is a bit nerve wracking�not to mention boring.

You turn around in your stool and survey a bookshelf behind you. Every shelf is packed with volumes of scholarly texts � most of which look incredibly boring, hardly proper for leisurely reading. You pull out one entitled The Chronological History and Legend of Coastal Shenkuu and flip it open. Well, at least it has pictures. As you leaf through the yellowed pages, you stop on a chapter about the Hunland invasions (whatever those are). What really caught your attention was an emotional illustration of a mother draik lifting a fragile egg above her amongst a sea of reaching hands�er�claws. As you study a picture, a reddish claw slips onto the page and taps on the image of the mother draik. Surprised, you look up to find your dragony host staring thoughtfully at the book.

-"My great, great, great grandmother," he says with a grin, "I checked the genealogy myself."

This guy's from Shenkuu? He certainly doesn't look it�what with the red hair and all�

What? Eh? Now your showing your ignorance, mate! Don't tell me you've never met ah true old-world coastal Shenkuuian before!"

You've never met a true old-world coastal Shenkuuian before�

-"Well! Let me tell you, back in the days before the Hunland invasion, the coasts of a Shenkuu were just crawling with good, hard-working pets, just like my great great great grandmother here � all of em' with carrot red hair, too! � and just because we didn't wear kimonos or flounce around with fans like you see Shenkuuians of today doing, doesn't mean we were any less of a countryman of Shenkuu! Why, if not for the Hunland invasions, we'd still be �"

This guy's obviously got some issues�he seems a little overly obsessed with his genealogy, and these Hunlanders � what's a Hunland anyhow?

-"Oh, my stars! Don't tell me - you've never heard of the Hunland invasions?"

Nope.

-"Hunland? Hunlanders? Anything?"

Nope.

-"Oh, well, my work here will have to wait � strike me dead if I let one more person go without ever knowing about the Hunland Invasions!" saying this, Avi grabs the book out of your hand and begins to page through it, "Now, where to begin�Ah, here we are�I'll read it to you�

-'A little over a century ago (you see here? On the timeline?) Shenkuu had a thriving coastal population. (that's the old-world coastal Shenkuuians I was talking about, you see. They're called old-world now, of course, because they existed before the Hunlanders invaded) The villages on the coast were mostly agricultural and populated by draiks. (and not just any draiks, now, mate! We coastal draiks are known for our adaptation to labor! See, our wings act as extended limbs!) The villages lived in peace and prospered through trade with sailors coming to port in Shenkuu.

However during the sixth century, the empire of Hunland mounted a massive invasion on the country of Shenkuu. (now, this is were things get interesting!) As a part of their battle strategy, they first overtook the small, coastal villages, in order to cut off their trade. (the brutes!) Many of the villages, with no way of defending themselves, turned to the sailors with which they traded for help. Many ships offered sanctuary to children of the desperate villagers, since the ships could not hold all of the adults. When the armies of Hunland swept through the coast, the villages were nearly wiped out. (a tragedy!) The villagers that remained took to the seas, in hopes of being reunited with their children. Even to present day, old-world coastal Shenkuuians remain prevalent in the employment pools of the eastern trading companies. They're intimate knowledge of the sea is famed�' The draik's reading trailed off and he closed the book, "Well, the rest just talks about the Hunlanders, we don't need to read that. So, now you know about the Hunland invasions and the coastal Shenkuuians, and your better for the knowledge, no doubt. Now, I don't even remember how you got me off on this tangent, I have work to do." And with that he turned back to his desk.

Alas, it seems once again you're left with nothing to, eh? You dare not open a book for fear of getting another lecture, but what to do? Across the room there's a port window - might as well move your stool so you can take a peek outside. You peer out the circular sea glass at the deck. There doesn't seem to be much movement out there. The deck is deserted and the ocean beyond is a flat expanse. The sails are still and windless and the black flag atop them hangs motionless. The sun is � wait a minute- black flag?!


Pirates

Gulp. A black flag could only mean one thing � pirates. You must be on a pirate ship; a fact that does not bode well for your future safety. From the story that Avi was going on about, one would've figured that you were on a trading ship. After all, didn't the book say that coastal Shenkuuians were prevalent in the eastern trading companies? They didn't say anything about pirates!

-"Oh, come on now, is it that surprising?" You spin around to find Avi standing over you, "Do you really believe a trading company would've locked you in a cell and forgotten about you? Really, I've been on many a merchant vessel in my life and most are very congenial with their prisoners. You should be more observant! But anyway, why the pale face? Pirates aren't all that bad once you get to know them. But, really, I used to hate pirates as much as the next sailor � thought they were unscrupulous, raucous, unconscionable pigs, the lot of them! But�.I got over that.

You feel a life story coming on, better get comfortable.


The Dragon

Yes, ever since I was a hatchling I've been at sea. Like most coastal Shenkuuians, I earned my sea legs just as soon as I could walk. I was apprenticed to my father at the age of five. He was a navigator, as I am now, and he was a fine navigator too. My father took great pride in his work. He saw navigation as a job for the highly educated, the intellectuals of the sea. He taught me every subject I would've learned at a land-lubber's school. By the time I was fourteen years old, I was ready to leave my father's side and work on another ship. I started as a cabin boy on the Green Sharkaw, but soon moved up to navigator when the old navi died. I changed ships over the years, calling The Crimson Tide, The Coronation, and The Dancing Juma my home. But finally I settled on The Dragon. It wasn't that The Dragon was such a special ship � it was actually just a privately owned merchant vessel. It was just that The Dragon was a challenge. The captain wasn't a very competent Neopian, to be honest, and the crew was young and inexperienced. They needed a good navigator, and I was happy to fill the spot.

Ah, yes, I have many happy memories aboard The Dragon! Sailing with a crew like that was always an adventure. It's a shame that it all ended so badly - not a single one of those happy memories isn't seasoned with the bitterness of what happened in the end.

Ah! But I don't mean to sound like a mysterious old coot, now! Let me tell ye what happened on The Dragon, eh? It's sure to make an interesting story!


The Lady

Well, I'd been sailing with The Dragon for a little over five years � a long time by my standards. And the day I remember like it were yesterday, we were docked in Shenkuu harbor, and the sky was clear and bright - a perfect day for sailing. It was mid-morning and the ship was abuzz with deck-hands, readying the ship for our departure. We were headed to the Lost Desert, a long and laborious journey, but a familiar one.

We'd made the voyage many times, so until we were in Open Ocean, there wasn't much for a navigator such as me'self to do. So I stayed on deck and took in the scene, as I was apt to do on journeys such as these. The sails were made ready and the anchors were weighed, and the captain was due back to the ship at any moment. The captain, a middle-aged kacheek of no great stature, (I won't mention his name, I don't want to cause trouble for 'em) was often off the ship, gallivanting in town. Though he was a Neopian of modest income, he preferred the high life, and often went well beyond his means. I only mention this because it makes what comes next a little more sensible to the casual observer.

When I saw the captain's carriage approaching the dock, followed by an unfamiliar entourage of other carriages, I knew that something was amiss. From the carriages poured at least a dozen hand servants (I could tell that that was what they were by their matching red uniforms) of various species. From the largest carriage emerged first our dear captain, followed by a Shenkuu noblewoman, the likes of which I've never seen.

She was a proud looking yurble with a royal purple coloring, and the stature of large bear. Even walking on all fours, she towered over the captain and dwarfed her servants (who were small to begin with). Her head � complete with massive curling horns � was held high as she surveyed the scene with subtle contempt and condescendence. She was covered head to toe in dripping jewels. She had a dangerous air about her - like a monstrous Jezebel. She sent chills up my spine.

Well, I didn't know what to think! Why would the captain bring such a creature to our ship? Surely he isn't thinking of selling to this noblewoman? She isn't an investor, is she? All these horrid ideas swept through my mind � and were all blown away just as quickly when the first sniveling little servant piddled up the gangway carrying a trunk of the Noblewoman's belongings. She was to be a passenger! Horrors!

I don't know if you're aware of it, but I tell you either way - women and ships do not mix! Every seasoned sailor worth his salt will tell you that! It's bad luck! Horrid bad luck! And yet here the captain came, practically escorting this feminine beast onto our ship!

Along with them came a flood of servants, carrying vessel after vessel of jewelry, gold, silver, and precious stones � the very picture of grotesque opulence! The lady yurble, when she boarded the ship, began to bark orders to her servants, and even to some of our crew! The nerve of it, for her to reduce the fine sailor's of The Dragon to baggage men and furniture movers! As she continued in her stint of ship-wide tyranny, I noticed our fine captain making for his cabin. As you can imagine, I had a few choice words to say to him on the current situation.

I shoved my way through the river of red-suited servants streaming into the lower decks, and approached the captain.

-"Captain, you yellow-bellied bilge rat! What's the meaning of this mess! Not only do you bring a woman on board, but her entourage too?! I demand to know the meaning of this!" I barked at him as I spun him around.

-"Mister Avulse, please," He said wriggling from my grip, "Do you know who that woman is? She is Lady Gousu! Wife of the wealthiest lord in all of Shenkuu! I warn you not to speak so illy in her presence - your worth on this ship is not as much as hers!"

-"What! I don't care who she is, it's the worst of luck to have a woman on board! You'll doom us all!"

-"Keep you silly superstitions to your self! She's paying us a fortune to be ferried to the Lost Desert and we will oblige her!"



-"Oh?! She's paying us a fortune?! Or is she paying you?!"

With a poisonous stare, the captain turned and sulked into his cabin.

-"You selfish bilge rat!" I scowled.


Loss!

Angry as I was, I turned back a little too quickly. I tripped over one of the small servants and fell face flat on the deck � very embarrassing.

Now, as a navigator, it is very critical for me to carry the proper instruments with me at all times. My father always taught me that. He gave me my first (and to this day, my only) compass. It is a beautifully engraved bronze compass, and it has always been very dear to me, as well as important to my work. You can imagine my horror, then, when I felt the compass slip from its hanging place on my right wing and heard it clatter to the deck as I fell over that servant. And you can imagine my indignance when, as I struggled to lift my self from the ground in all the commotion, I witnessed one of those weasely little hand servants pick my compass up and toss it into the already overflowing basket of jewels he was porting!

I shot up immediately and reached out to grab that little thief. But� where was he!? I searched the crowd, but with their matching uniforms and similar height, they all looked the same to me! Scanning the stream of wealth-filled baskets, I finally saw my compass sitting atop a veritable mountain of gold and jewels. As I struggled to get to it, it slipped away below deck, along with all the other servants. I was left standing in the middle of an empty deck, dazed and angry. The portal leading below deck was shut by the first mate, as he called for the deckhands to weigh anchor.

The first mate never tolerated any lollygagging. I'd have to get my compass later, after we were on our way.

The ship left Shenkuu port on schedule, and made its way toward the open sea. The mood on the deck was tense and brooding - no one was pleased with our new passengers, or our captain for that matter.


Search

When darkness fell, and all the work was finished, I went to the sleeping quarters, as per usual. When I was certain all of my crewmates were fast asleep (it didn't take long due to the copious amounts of work and rum that go along with the beginning of a voyage) I crept out onto the open deck.

The main cargo hold � the only place big enough to hold all of that woman's belongings, really � was located mid-ship, and accessible only through a large, double-door portal. Slipping silently through said portal, I found myself standing amongst a sea of sleeping figures. The floor was thick with the resting bodies of the hand servants. The looking around the large cargo hold, I saw not a single crate, basket or bureau�nor did I see the yurble woman. No doubt she saw fit to take the whole of the inner cargo hold for her own uses � that particular hold was meant only for the crew's most prized possessions. Tip-toeing through the servants, I made my way to the end of the hold and slowly, quietly opened the door. As my eyes adjusted to the increasing darkness, I could barely make out the scene. The hold was jam packed with every container imaginable, each in turn packed with the lady's precious possessions. Surely my compass was near the front, as it was brought in close to last.

I methodically searched through the baskets closest to me, being careful not make a sound, for in the center of the hold, on a high stack of luxurious pillows, I had spotted the menacing silhouette of the lady, deep in slumber. Despite my certainty of my compass being near the front, I was finding nothing. I inched closer to the center, and began to search another ring of cargo. I found jewels, gold, silver, fine silks and rare furs � but no compass. Before I knew it, I had reached the last few baskets � located directly underneath the still slumbering lady. I came upon a large basket of exotic-looking petpet furs, and began to search through them. I pulled them out, one after the other, hoping to hear the soft tinkle of my compass as they shifted. Hastily, I reached for a bright red and cream banded fur and grabbed a hold of it, and yanked it from the bottom of the basket.

RWIIIIIIIAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!

To my utter surprise and horror, the fur screeched and leaped from my hand onto my head and began to scratch at my eyes.

I couldn't help but yell in shock.

And I suppose that the yurble woman could not help but hear me.


Trouble!

I flailed and growled and clawed at my head, trying to pry whatever ghastly beast had fixed itself there away. I grabbed the thing and hurled it to the floor and watched it, a small dandan, scurry away in a flash of red. Panting I turned � and came face to face with the furious visage of a very angry she-yurble. Her piercing eyes, illuminated by two lanterns hanging from her horns, stared me down. I could hear a growl from within her, rising up like thunder. In a flash of lantern fire and fury she reared upward, throwing me across the room and roaring viciously at me.

-"HOW DARE YOU ENTER MY SLEEPING CHAMBERS, YOU FOUL PEASANT! YOU'LL PAY FOR DISTURBING ME AND SOILING MY BELONGINGS WITH YOUR FILTHY PAWS!" She screeched horribly, reeled, and began roaring for her servants. As she spun wildly in rage, one of her lanterns smashed into a bureau, sending flaming oil spattering over the wood. The flames licked and grew, and soon encompassed the small piece of furniture and began devouring the baskets, cloths and furs around them.

Watching this scene unfold was like a nightmare. I scrambled out of the inner hold and into the cargo hold, which was now teaming with confused and bewildered servants. Many of them were scrambling toward the inner hold, trying to answer their mistress's call, but those who had already gotten there had seen the growing flames and were now struggling to escape them. They were like rats in a barrel � full of terror in utter pandemonium. I shoved my way through them and ran, gasping, up to the deck. I raced to the bell mounted on the foredeck and began to ring it. The bell was meant to muster the crew in case of emergency. I need not explain to the groggy crewmembers just what that emergency was � the deathly black smoke rising from the cargo hold was telltale enough. Every jumped to action, moving gunpowder away, bringing out water buckets, and pulling the servants out of the way. The servants were pouring out the hold by the dozen, pushing and shoving and crawling over each other.

It soon became apparent, as the blaze erupted through the top deck, that unless we took to the life boats immediately we would all be doomed. The first mate gave orders to abandon ship and we all began to hoist out the boats. When the boats were readied we began tossing the servants on to them as they streamed by.

Out of the billowing smoke from the cargo hold flew Gousu, with bitter anger still burning in her eyes. She jerked her head around, surveying the scene. Seeing her servants piling into the life boats, she gave out an enraged shriek,

-"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU UNGRATFUL INGRATES??! MY PRECIOUS BELONGINGS ARE BURNING UP, AND YOU'RE ABANDONING YOUR MASTER?! YOU'LL NOT LEAVE UNTIL ALL OF MY BELONGINGS ARE SAFE ON A BOAT!!!"

With that, every bit of movement on the ship came to a complete and unnerving stop.

Surely she didn't expect her servants, be they loyal or not, to risk their lives just to save a few trinkets?!

Yet, to my shock, and to the horror of every crewmate on that ship, every servant, down to the last one, climbed out of the boats and scrambled back into the blaze.

-"Every man for himself! If there are boats left leave them for the others, but lower your own or perish!" Shouted the first mate, as the others in his boat began to lower it to the sea. The other mates and I lowered our boats in to the inky blackness, and rowed away from the ship.

The boats gathered in a solemn huddle, a safe distance from the burning ship. We could hear the roar of the flames as they engulfed the mast and sails of our once proud vessel. We could feel the immense heat, as far away as we were, but we could not see a single other boat leaving the ship.

When the dawn broke, the ship was gone. Every ash of it had sunk to the ocean floor. Broken, the crew rowed all the way back to Shenkuu port. All of our livelihoods had gone up in flames. The Dragon's crew parted ways, once and for all.


A New Horizon

If there's anything good what come of that incident, it's this: It made me reconsider what was meant by honest labor.

I mean, I had toiled away on that ship for a good five years � all to have it, quite literally, go up in smoke at the end. It wasn't just that, though. That thought alone would've simply made me depressed, but there was something more to it. There was the treasure. Fire can burn ships and sails, it can devour dreams and livelihoods, but there are things that fire can't consume � gold, silver, jewels, and all the freedom they imply � fire cannot hurt these things. And somewhere, resting with the remains of The Dragon and our dreams, were all these things � waiting to be found.

And only I knew where to find them!

After all, I was the navigator. I knew from where our ship had departed, I knew where we were heading, I knew how long we had been at sea, the conditions of the voyage, the weather, the size of the ship and it's cargo � with all these things, and a few calculations, I could find the exact spot where The Dragon had gone down, and there, I would find all of the treasure that that yurble woman had been so desperate to save.

I could have gotten a job as a navigator on another vessel - my name was well enough known - but something inside me yearned for more. I wasn't happy with just navigating anymore � in my opinion, that profession had already failed me. I didn't just want to piddle away my life, leading around a bunch of ships and their money-minded captains, for Pete's sake!

So instead of returning to the sea, I took to solitary life. I stayed in a small hut, on the coast of Shenkuu, with only little Rose for company. I spent every wak � oh? What's that? Who's Rose, you say? Oh, blimey! I must've skipped right over her! I was in such a somber mood back there I plum forgot to mention her!

Well, the morning after the disastrous sinking of The Dragon, as our lifeboat convoy was preparing to make for port, some floating wreckage drifted about us. Not much, just a few broken crates and such � but we salvaged all we could. Floating amongst that wreckage, our boat came across a bedraggled little dandan, clinging for dear life to a couple of boards � the very same dandan, no doubt, that had caused all this trouble in the first place! I plucked her out of the water and dried her off. I figure I was as much at fault as her, having yanked her tail and all. So I decided to keep her, as a reminder of what went on that night. I figure it's always good to have reminders about ye, so as not to make the same mistake twice.

I called her Rose, after the compass rose, which helps one keep their bearing while reading a map. Though, her coloring lends well to the word's more flowery meaning, too. She's a mighty good friend when one's lonely, and has a tail that makes for a fine windsock in a pinch too!

But anyhow, enough about her, I'll never be finished with this story at this rate.

I spent at least a year in that hut by the coast, probably more. What I thought would be a simple calculation turned out to be more difficult and time consuming than I could have imagined. I spent every waking moment plotting the course that would lead me to the treasure. I created a map, planned the voyage, and premeditated the dive to the sunken wreck. It took time and patience, but I finally did it. All that I lacked now was a ship.

Getting one of the aforementioned proved much more difficult than I had bargained for.


A Fanatical Proposition

You'd be surprised how quickly one can lose one's reputation.

Sure, tell them that tiny boat can find a tiny island in an immense ocean and they'll believe you. Tell them that a hurricane won't knock a ship of course too much and they'll eat it right up! But so much as mention sunken treasure and they laugh! They laugh!

Show them a map and they'll laugh still harder.

Perhaps I did look a little bedraggled after a year of solitude. Perhaps I looked a little obsessive, a little�fanatical. But, but! That's no reason to laugh at a man! Serves them right, though � if they didn't want to help me find The Dragon's treasure, then they simply wouldn't partake of its glory!

But surely someone would believe me, right? I'd asked every owner and every captain of every vessel I'd ever been associated with, and eventually all the ones I hadn't been associated with, too. They all said the same things.

Get a real job. Forget The Dragon. It was tragic, we know, but let it go!

But, that simply wouldn't do, would it?

I made my way down the coast of Shenkuu, stopping at every harbor, minor and major, in my path. All held little prospect for treasure hunters. I was at the end of my rope.

But there was one last city. Not one of good refute, mind you. And though I had summarily cast my self away from society, still I balked at the thought of uniting myself with the scourge of the earth � such as those who made Ji Huay Harbor their home.


Ji Huay

Ji Huay is a town situated in a natural harbor at the base of the largest mountain in Shenkuu, the very mountain on which the royal city has sat for thousands of years. An inconvenient situating of rivers and valleys brings much of the filth and debris from the royal city to this very harbor. In fact the town of Ji Huay is built from the castoffs of the royal city by the castoffs of the royal city, for any Shenkuuian accused of disgracing the throne is banished from Shenkuu � and usually takes refuge in Ji Huay, because it is not technically situated on Shenkuu land, but rather just off it's coast. The city is a floating dump, peopled by the most insidious of inhabitants one could ask for. Ji Huay means "opportunity", and it was just that to me.

Having been brought up as an upstanding Shenkuuian, I had never been to, or even so much as seen, Ji Huay, but I had heard enough about it to set me on edge at the thought of visiting it. The only way to reach the town was by boat � or rather little rundown dinghies piloted by Ji Huayians looking for easy money � and it was in one of these that I approached the city.

The most prominent feature of Ji Huay became quite apparent when I came within fifty feet of its outermost edges � the city reeks of fish. But the fish at least covered the smell of the brackish, polluted water which flowed beneath me. I didn't even want to think of what must have made it that way. Upon reaching the harbor and paying my dinghy pilot, I began to make my way to the heart of the city. Surely, with so many illegal activities going on in all directions, the people here would be open to a little treasure hunting.

Though I am a native Shenkuuian, I have not spent much time on its shores. This city still felt foreign to me. But at least I could speak the language and recognize the best places to begin my search. I figured that my best chance of finding a proper sea captain would be to search the taverns first. However, after several failed attempts, I gave up on that idea all together. I just couldn't find anyone suitable in this rat hole of a town! Every tavern I visited was filled to the brim with drunkards and crime lords � certainly no one I would trust to give me my share of the treasure if we found it. I nearly got killed more times than I'd like to remember, and got called many nasty names which I certainly will not repeat here.

Dejected I wandered down the narrow streets of Ji Huay - And that isn't an easy task, mind you, in a city whose streets are littered with filth and unsupervised children. I often found myself being watched by hungry eyes from alleyways and street corners, and I know well from the town's reputation that not even the smallest child can be trusted to be innocent. I had to be careful of thieves, for in my bag I carried the map which showed the way to The Dragon's treasure.

As I walked, I came upon a gathering of filthy-looking young children huddled 'round a street corner. Fearing that they were some sort of gang or perhaps a distraction, I hid myself in an alleyway until I could discern what they were up to.

As I listened intently from my hiding place I heard the low voice of an adult speaking to the children. His accent was not Shenkuuian in origin, but rather seemed to be that of a western buccaneer � a pirate even, perhaps. He seemed to be deep into a narration, and from the looks of it, he had his child audience entranced.


A Seaman's Tale

-"Tell me now, children, have ye ever heard of Lady Gousu?" Inquired the storyteller, "Surely ye have heard of 'er? The noble woman what lived outside the Royal City? The one whos vanity and wrath was so great, no one, not even Shenkuu's emperor himself, dared to meddle with 'er? Have ye heard of what happened to 'er? Why 'er mighty fortress now stands vacant and bare?"

The storyteller paused to let the little ones murmer. Needless to say, he had my interest too.

-"They say she gathered all 'er most precious of belongings, all 'er wealth and all 'er slaves, and set out to the lost desert for ah holiday�.and that she never returned.

Oh, of course there are rumors. Many claim that she liked the desert and decided to stay. Others claim she was kidnapped by pirates�but listen closely children, for old Scallywag knows the real story.

Ye see, Lady Gousu weren't just goin' on holiday, no�she was running away from her husband! She had proven too vain, too headstrong, and too cruel to be controlled. She and her lordship had had a violent falling out, and she was bound and determined to leave him forever.

She took all she valued in life, 'er jewels and furs, 'er gold and silver, 'er fine clothing and ornamentations and all 'er servants, and loaded 'em on the first boat she could hire. The boat, which was called The Dragon was a simple, unassuming cargo ship, on its way to the Lost Desert with a shipment. Little did its crew realize what was in store for them when the Lady came aboard.

Not more than a day into that doomed ship's voyage, a devastating fire laid waste to The Dragon, devouring all on board. Some say that the Lady Gousu's husband, driven by rage, sent a convoy of ships in the night to murder his wife. Others say it was the Lady herself who set fire to the ship, in one last act of defiance against her husband. But, regardless of who you believe, one fact remains constant � that all of the Lady's opulent possessions sank to the ocean floor that night. And there they still lay, guarded by the vengeful ghost of the Lady Gousu�."

The storyteller ended his story in a eerie tone, leaving the children to laugh nervously and disperse, having had their hunger for ghost stories fulfilled.

This fellow obviously knew about all about The Dragon, but would he be willing to help me seek out her treasure? That was the question on my mind as I left my hiding place to meet him.


Scallywag

As I rounded the corner I was surprised to find that the story teller was actually a very large, reddish lupe. He stood on all fours and was wearing a blue sailor's jacket made of pressed felt, and had a matching hat which he was adjusting on his head with a paw. It was somewhat of a ridiculous sight, a dog dressed so fancily, but I was still determined to talk to him.

The storyteller, having fixed his hat to satisfaction, began to trot down the street as I approached. When I called out to him, he gave me a most surprised and suspicious look.

-"Excuse me," I said, catching up to him, "But I couldn't help but overhear that story you were telling a minute ago�"

-"It's just a seaman's tale, mate, to entertain the children, nothing to worry yer'self with!" The lupe chirped cheerfully and quickly, with a smile on his face, before turning to trot away again. Despite his amiable demeanor, I could tell he was suspicious of me. I would have to make this quick before he ran off.

-"No, no, it's just�well, what if I told you that I knew where to find the spot where The Dragon sank? Where all that treasure was waiting?" I called after him, walking quickly to catch up. Upon hearing that, the lupe's suspicions seemed to be calmed � he probably figured I wasn't any lawman, at least. He stopped and turned to me.

-"I'd say I'd need proof, before I was to believe ye." He replied with a wry grin.

-"Well, just take a look at this map, then, if proof's all ye need" I said, pulling out the map I had made, "It shows the exact location �"

-"Well, say now, let me see that, mate!" The lupe, suddenly interested, said as he took the map in his paws for a closer look, "This looks authentic! Why, lookit' all those calculations, I bet �"

Suddenly, the lupe rolled up the map, stuck it in his mouth and made a run for it. Stunned, I watched him dash down the street. That mongrel was stealing my map!

I raced after him. That stinking, slimy, mangy dog! How dare he steal my map! I'd worked days on end to create it! I was going to wring his neck when I caught him!

The lupe zigzagged through alleys and corridors, bolted through crowds and through heaps of garbage trying to lose me � but I wasn't about to be lost. Finally, as he dashed across a wet loading dock, he lost his footing and I was able to overcome him. I grabbed back the map and held him up by the hem of that ridiculous jacket he was wearing.

-"YOU NO-GOOD MANGY DOG, YOU! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO ROB ME! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO MAKE THAT MAP! WHY-"

-"Wait just a minute, now!" The lupe cut me short, taking me by surprise, "Did I hear that right?! YOU made this map?! With your own two hands?! You created this exquisite piece of cartography!? Why! You'll have to forgive me mate! Here I thought ye were just a common hustler trying to sell me a stolen map, but clearly you're a master! Oh, please, beggin' yer pardon, sir, I would never steal from an honest soul, honest! If'n I'd known you had made this I'd ah never even � oh! Well, pardon me, I'm rambling! The name's Scallywag! Put er' there, mate."

I had every intention of biting his head off, I really did, but by the time he finished talking I was entirely too confused and I shook his paw instead.

-"It's a fine pleasure to meet a master cartographer, it really is! Tell me now, now that ye have my interest on this map o' yers, how did you come to know the location of The Dragon's treasure? She ain't been sunk but a year, did you find her ruins? Is there really a ghost guarding it? Well? Speak up, lad! Don't just leave me guessing with that bewildered look on yer face!"

-"well, I, uh..." I stuttered, trying to retain my composure, "Well! As it so happens, I was the navigator on The Dragon, and unlike you claimed in the story, the crew did survive! Anyway, I'm not interested in dealing with you any longer, I need someone trustworthy to help me on my venture an-"

-"ohhh, now, don't begrudge an ol' pirate like me'self for trying a bit o' burglary! Ah, but then I suppose yer just an upright sailorman yerself, probably wouldn't understand the ways o' the pirate! �Which begs me to wander, now, what is a hoity-toity guy like you doin' in Ji Huay � this ain' exactly yer town, mate!" Scallywag inquired with a slight glint of pride in his wily eyes.

I struggled a bit with that question. What was I doing here? Sure I needed a crew, but I also wanted nothing to do with these scoundrels! But...this was the most promising prospect I'd gotten in weeks, it would be foolish to throw it all away just because this guy had made a less than stunning first impression�


A Deal

I'm looking for a ship." I replied.

-"A ship? No doubt to go lookin' fer that treasure, eh? Well, if you'll be willin' to overlook an ol' seadog's faults, I may be able to help you out with that. Ye see, I'm not from around here, if'n ye couldn't tell from me accent. Only reason I bother to come to Ji Huay is to rendezvous with an old mate o' mine. He's captain of a ship, that chum o' mine, a pirate ship, in fact, and he'll be coming into port here in Ji Huay any day now. Ye see, Ji Huay sticks close to its namesake, 'opportunity'. There's always something to be gained here, if ye don't mind gettin' yer hands dirty � which a pirate never minds. So's I told my mate a lil' over a month ago that if he dropped me off here that I'd be able to, ye know, drum up a bit of profit for the crew an' all. Now between you and me, I really just wanted to stretch me legs a bit � life on a ship ain't all fun and games, ye know - but, me holiday's almost over and I need something to show for it.

-"Ye see where I'm goin' here, mate? I need justification fer bein' here, you need a ship � We can help each other out here! What do ye say?" The lupe finished with a grin and thrust his paw out to me. Well, what could I say? I took his paw and shook it again.

-"Good, then, It's a deal! But we'll have to get started right away, or ye'll never be ready by the time they get here."

-"Wait now, get started on what?"

-"Oh, yer piratification, silly! Ye don't think I'm gonna present ye to me mate and his crew lookin' and talkin' the way ye do!? Why, hehe, they'd laugh us off the ship. Let's face it, pretty boy, yer not exactly pirate material."

-"But I don't want to be a pirate any-"

-"Oh hush, hush! Like I says, we got to get started! Now we'll start with yer dialect, it's too�too�proper! Try throwin' a few 'ye's' and 'yarrs' in every once and awhile. Go on, try one now, let me hear ye.

-"yar."

-"No, no! What kind'v a 'yar' was that!? Ye got to say it with feeling! Like this: YARR!"

-"yaRr?"

-"Oh, matey, that was worse! Now say it like ye mean it!"

-"What does it mean?"

-"Ack! Don't ask that boy! Say it like�say it like ye've got barnicles in yer britches and yer mammy never loved ye!"

-"What?!"

-"JUST SAY IT!"

-"YARR!"

-"There ye go! That's it! Now practice that. I think we're ready for the tattoo parlor, now, c'mon!"

-"Ready for the what?"

-"Never mind, just come along!"


A New Leaf

And thus began my piratification.

It didn't start with the tattoo parlor, actually, Scally wanted to see how I'd look in some "piraty effects" as he called them. We tried on hats, jackets, sashes, eye patches and what not, but Scally wasn't satisfied with any of it. It's hard to find clothes tailored for people with my body type, anyhow. Then we went to a weapons shop. I've terrible hand-eye coordination, ye know, nearly killed the weaponsmith�twice. So after we got kicked out of there, we went to the tattoo parlor. I protested, of course, but my ticket to getting the treasure was getting on that ship, and Scally insisted that if I didn't at least have a good tattoo, there'd be no chance of that.

Now admittedly, I am a little squeamish about needles and such. It just seems so unnatural to be poking one's skin repeatedly. That's probably why I fainted after the first five minutes of tattooing. Which is probably why I stand before you now with just about every inch of my body covered in tattoos. Scally really can't be trusted to make use of moderation.

So the day finally came, the day we got word that The Spectral Hippocampus, the ship belonging to Scally's friend, had arrived in Ji Huay Harbor. Scally instructed me in pirate etiquette - all of which basically reiterated the fact that if a pirate didn't like you, he'd probably shoot you � the whole way to the docks.

It wasn't difficult to find the ship we were looking for; The Hippocampus was about ten times larger than any of the Shenkuuian fishing junks harbored along side it. It was also brazenly flying it's piratical colors. The ship was an intimidating sight from a distance, and that feeling only became stronger with every step I took in its direction. When I found myself climbing the gang plank, I was nearly paralyzed by apprehension. Scally, on the other hand, trotted on as if the world were all daisies and buttercups, just as happy and carefree as can be � he may have even been whistling, I can't quite remember.

I was instructed by Scally to remain on deck while he fetched his friend from the cabin. This was quite awkward, for the ship's crew was all on deck performing their duties and I felt all of their eyes watching me intently. When Scally emerged from below deck, he was followed by a tall skeith wearing a large brimmed hat and a long red leather coat. The skeith, who I guessed to be the captain looked at me with scrutinizing eyes. Scally and he talked for a few minutes and then they both approached me.

-"Well, Avi! This fellow here is me best mate, Captain Rhaedyr! Rhae, this the navigator I were tellin' ye about." Scally introduced.

-"Well," Rhaedyr said, extending a hand out to me, "It takes quite a bit o' nerve for a sailor such as yerself to seek aid from pirates. That tells me that you must have more than a little faith in this here treasure of yers! Might I have a look at that map? You dun' have to worry about me running off with it."

I handed Rhaedyr the map and watched him look it over carefully. He seemed impressed, which I was rather flattered at. These pirates weren't as horrid as I'd imagined.

-"This is fine work, me boy!" Exclaimed Rhaedyr, handing back the map, "And it's more than peaked my interest. Just think! Ol' Gousu's gold, ripe for the takin', and we got ourselves a map and ah navigator who knows the way. Ay, this'll make for a fine voyage, it will!"

-"Wait just a minute captain!" Exclaimed a colorfully skinned, peg-legged gnorbu who was until this moment overseeing some maintenance on deck, "Don't ye think ye ought'a at least let yer first mate have ah say in 'dis!? We dun know the first ting about 'dis draik�what if he's jus' puttin' us on?"

The gnorbu approached and gave me a looking over. He was followed close behind by a large green krawk with a mane of shaggy hair and a piggish face. The krawk had been below deck, but seemed to have emerged due to interest in the new person on board.

-"The decision's already been made, Immatra," The captain growled, "Your opinion isn't needed. Anyway, if he is "putting us on" as you say, well just shoot him, and we'll've had some fun while we were at it, anyway � Doc, what are you doing!"

Assuming that the large krawk was Doc, I wanted to know the same thing. While the gnorbu was still staring me down angrily, the krawk had grabbed my right wing and was flexing it in his hands and looking at it closely.

-"Just checking the wings for injury, abnormality, disease, n' whatnot, Captain." The krawk answered, "I feel it's me duty to ensure that he's in tip top shape if he's to be spending time on ship. I don't want any infectious diseases running rampant-"

-"Oh, blast it! If we come to find he's diseased we'll toss 'im overboard, okay!?" Rhaedyr cried impatiently, "Now both of you get to yer stations and tell the others to make the ship ready to sail. Now, Mr. Avi, if you'll follow me cabin boy, Jimmy, he'll take ye to yer room."


Plotting the Course

I spent the next three days holed up my cabin planning the course we would take to the sunken treasure. I came to feel quite at home on The Hippocampus. I quickly found that a pirate ship functioned much the same way a merchant ship or a navy ship did, only with a more laid back, less rigid atmosphere. Talk in the mess hall always seemed to center around what we would all do with our share of the treasure. It was the first time I had thought of that, too. I'd been so busy trying to find the treasure, I hadn't even thought of what I'd do with it all, fancy that! I decided that I would spend it on books - Shelves and shelves of books. Captain Rhaedyr planned to add any precious jewels to his hoard and spend the gold on improvements for the ship. The doctor wanted sharper surgery instruments. Immatra, the first mate, expressed and interest in new furnishings for his quarters. Then there'd be a new mop for little Jimmy, the cabin boy, lobster chow for the weapon's master, and potatoes for the cook.

I rather liked spending time with these fellows.

Not that I wasn't looking forward to finding my treasure! Each day I could feel us pulling closer and closer to The Dragon's watery grave, where all my dreams would be fulfilled.


X Marks the Spot

When we finally made it to the spot, the very spot, where The Dragon went down, I was as giddy as a school boy. I measured the water depth and found that it wasn't nearly as deep as I had originally hypothesized. I had feared that the only way to get to the treasure would be by dredging the ocean floor, but being relatively shallow meant that diving wasn't out of the question, especially for Linnio, the weapons master on The Hippocampus

Linnio, a gelert from Maraqua, not only had two enormous tentacles for ears, webbed feet and hands, and a large fin-like tail, but also a set of gills � Which would come in handy for treasure diving.

Though, I'm not such a bad diver myself, I might say. Coastal Shenkuuians pride themselves in the ability to swim swiftly and hold their breaths for long periods of time � and I was no exception. Thus, I planned to dive along with Linnio the first few times, to scope out the treasure and devise the best plan of action from there.

The sea green water was bitterly cold as we dove into it from a small dinghy tethered several feet from the ship. Swimming downward toward the ocean floor we could see a rock formation rising from the darkness. I caught a glimpse of something glinting in the sun, and signaled to Linnio that we should search there first. My hunch did not go unrewarded � sitting on a rocky ledge were several golden ringlets! Not much, but proof enough that the treasure was there! We scooped up the rings, tied a piece of fabric to the rock and resurfaced. While I caught my breath, Linnio placed the rings in the boat. We dove again.

This time we searched the crevices below the rock we found the ringlets on. For a few minutes we had no luck, but just as we were about to resurface again, Linnio pulled on my arm and pointed excitedly towards a large gleaming pile just below us. We swam towards it.

It was glorious, I tell you!

The small gleaming pile which had caught our attention was only the tip of the iceberg! Beneath that was a sea of gold and silver, sprinkled with the colorful flashes from jewels and gems. We stared in wonder at the beauteous scene, but I soon remembered that I had to breath. Grabbing a few choice items for showing, and marking the spot with another cloth, we swam back up to the surface, eager to show the others our find.


Burnout

We didn't exactly get the hero's welcome we were hoping for when we reached the surface. As we broke the surface of the water, we were overcome by the smell of burning wood. Looking to the ship, I half expected it to be aflame, but thankfully it seemed untouched � but the crew was nowhere to be seen!

They had been formerly gathered on the side of the ship, watching us dive and waiting for word of the treasure, but now they were nowhere in sight. Linnio and I loaded what we had of the treasure into the boat and rowed slowly back to the ship. Something was amiss, but what, we did not know.

The rope meant to pull us back up on deck was still hanging down for us, but with no one to pull at the other end, we had to climb it. Upon reaching the upper deck, we found the crew � gathered to the other side of the boat in silence, watching intently � but watching what?

We soon found out.

As we approached the group, Rhaedyr turned back to us with a grave and questioning look.

-"Well, Mr. Navigator, what shall we do about this?" He said, motioning towards something over the bow.

It was a ship.

Or rather it was the skeleton of a ship, charred black, teetering in the water before us.

I recognized it, it was The Dragon.

-"Perhaps we can ignore it?" Scallywag offered sheepishly with a nervous smile.

-"I think we ought to give it a few cannon blasts, to scare it off." Imma suggested grimly, staring suspiciously at the ship.

-"What! We can't do that! It's a ghost ship! Do that, and it's liable to curse us all!" I cried, "let's just make off with the treasure and leave it be."

-"I think we ought to board her." Rhaedyr said with a wry smile.

-"WHAT!?!" The crew cried in tandem.

-"Well, what kind o' pirates would we be if we took off yippin' with our tails 'tween our legs just 'cause a scary boat came and frightened us away, eh? No, I say we take initiative and march right on to that there ship and take on whatever challenges us! Just think, battling the supernatural! Mates, this be our chance to make legends of ourselves! 'Sides, them ghosts are probably keepin' all the best booty to themselves!"

-"Well, I 'spose," Imma replied doubtfully, "But we 'oughta at least some of us stay here ta make sure teh ship stays safe."

-"That's true, that's true," mused the captain, rubbing his chin, "Well, I suppose as captain my duty is to the safety of the crew and ship, so I'll 'ave to stay here. And therefore it only makes sense that ye, Imma, bein' first mate as ye are, should lead the expedition onto the ship. And ye'll take Doc with ye, in case ye need medical help, and ye might as well drag Neanezzer down from the crow's nest, won't matter much if the ghost kill him, hehe�oh! And Mr. Avi! Of course ye'll go! Yer quite accustomed to this ship, so ye'll be able to guide the others!"

Did he just say he wanted me to go?!


Into the Lion's Den

The boat we were to row to the ship in was lowered into the sea in preparation for our excursion. I was terribly nervous, having lived through one nightmare on that ship already, but I held on to the last inkling of hope I had � that perhaps I would have a second chance to find my compass. I had missed it dearly in the past year, for it had always reminded me of my father in hard times before.

As we rowed towards the burnt-out wreck, we searched for a part of the bow burnt low enough for us to climb aboard, yet stable enough to hold our weight .When we found such an area, we slowly climbed aboard and scrambled up to a section of the deck that remained intact.

-"Well, Mista' Navigator, what now?" Growled the first mate, Immatra, in an irritated tone, "I can only suppose the capt'n expects us ta come back wit' more treasure, so ya better deliver if ya value 'dat hide ah yers. I'm not about ta take the blame if we come' up empty handed!"

-"Well," I stated, "If there's treasure, it's in the cargo hold, that's for certain."

-"Ya mean down there?" Neanezzer, a scrawny kid kacheek in desert clothing, said, looking doubtfully down a dark corridor. "If it's there yer goin', count me out. I'm not gonna risk my neck for a buch of treasure that may or may not be there�"

-"Aye, but you'll do fer yer Captain, boy, or you'll scrawny neck'll get rung either way!" Doc snarled, coming up behind the kacheek threatening to butt him with his horns.

-"You're not the boss a' me!" Snapped Neanezzer boldy, as he lurched away from the imposing krawk.

-"I'm tha' boss a' both of ya! Now quit yer yappin' an' let's get down ta that cargo hold and offa' this ship!" Immatra snapped back.

-"Watch what yer sayin', stumpy! I'm nobody's inferior!" Growled -blocked-

-"STUMPY!?! Why ya yella' bellied blagard, you! I'll have ya keel hauled for this!" Immatra cried.

That's about the part where I ducked below deck to escape from the fighting. If they couldn't control their tempers long enough to even get down to the cargo hold, I didn't imagine they'd be much of a help to me in finding the rest of the treasure, anyway. The corridor leading below deck to the cargo hold was nearly pitch black, save a few streams of light coming in from the dilapidated deck above. I could hear the crunching of burnt timbers below me as I walked deeper into the ship. I could still hear the others bickering atop the deck even as I reached the first cargo hold. There was nothing in the massive room save debris. It felt eerie being there, knowing that the last time I was there it was filled with teeming masses of doomed servants. I made my way through the room with difficulty, being careful to avoid holes burnt through the planked floor.

Entering the inner hold was more than a little frightening. The memories of the rampaging Gousu floated through my head and put me on edge � but they wouldn't stop me. I was determined not to come back empty handed. I didn't want to make Scally look bad, after all, since he had gone out of his way to help me. I also didn't want to die, which I reckoned was likely if this specter of a cursed ship prevented us from collecting the treasure.

All seemed quiet as I slipped into the inner hold.

The room reeked of ash and smoke � to the point where I could hardly breathe. It was pitch black when I first entered, and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I found myself standing amongst towering piles of debris � and more. Despite the dim lighting my eyes beheld a room filled with glittering piles of soot and ash filled gold and jewels. What Linnio and I had discovered on the ocean floor was pitiful compared to what was around me. I marveled at it � the stark contrast of ruin and riches was dazzling. I was just turning to retrieve the others when something caught my eye. Something - some small insignificant something - glimmered just as my eye passed it over - I wouldn't even have noticed it otherwise. Sitting atop the tallest pile of debris, in the center of the hold, laid my compass!

Well, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest!

I squinted in disbelief, but there it was! Clear as day! My compass, unharmed and gleaming!

I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it till I saw it there with my own eyes. I'd thought I'd lost everything in the fire � my livelihood, my home, my belongings - but now, just as a new life was opening up for me, the most precious thing I'd lost was being returned! I scrambled towards it, up the steep and shifting slope of the debris. I grabbed it as I reached the top and wrapped it tightly around my arm, so that I would not lose it again. I snapped it open � the inside was just as it had been when I lost it, not a scratch or a smudge in sight. The needle spun and glittered in the firelight, and I-

Firelight?!

I spun around. Below me, two lanterns bobbed in the darkness, their light obscuring my vision.

Hehehehe� I knew you'd come back�

A voice emanated from the darkness.

-"Wha-?" I stuttered.

Thousands of tiny lights began to appear all around me, like eyes staring from the darkness. My heart was beating faster every second.

-"Gousu?" I stammered.

Hehehe, so you've come back for my treasure, have you? I knew you would�from the moment I saw you I knew that was all you wanted�

-"Huh? I- I- I never wanted your-"

Tut tut tut� lies don't become you, thief� you snuck into this place to steal my treasure that night�and when you could not have it, you made sure no one could have it�

-"I did not! I only came after what was mine to begin with!" I cried. My eyes were adjusting to the lantern light � I could see now that the tiny lights around me were the luminous eyes of Gousu's servants, perched on every available inch of space, staring at me, wide-eyed and without feeling. Gousu, pale and dark in the light of her lanterns, stood in front of the door, looking not at me, but at a golden chain which she held in her claws. She toyed with it and smiled.

You destroyed what you could not have�you doomed us all to burn for you own selfish greed�

-I doomed you?! It was you who started the fire! It was your lantern that lit the ship on fire, and your belongings that served as kindling to feed the blaze!" I exploded, " You were the one who wouldn't leave without your precious treasure! All of this is your fault! You greedy, self-righteous, she-devil! And I wouldn't've even come down here in the first place if one of your little servants hadn't've gotten his greedy little hands on my compass! I-"

In afterthought, ranting at a vengeful spirit was not one of my better ideas.

The tiny golden chain in Gousu's claws turned bright red and melted before my eyes. Gousu's eyes turned slowly upward to meet mine. They were white-hot and angry. The flames within her lanterns � which had once been small and flickering- now blazed. They grew so hot the glass shattered into a millon pieces, and then all hell broke loose.

Fire appeared from nowhere, all over the ship. No longer were the walls of the ship dark with char and soot � they were alive and crackling with flames! The tower of debris I had been perched upon became like a pyre beneath my feet. The flames blinded and suffocated me all at once. I stumbled and fell, sliding down the flaming slope, the fire scorching my skin. I lurched upward, trying to stand and run, but was confronted by the fiery specter of Gousu. She loomed over me, larger than life, her fur blackened and engulfed in flame. Her servants swooped around her, screeching like banshees.

YOU! YOU DID THIS TO US! YOU CAUSED THIS CURSE TO BEFALL US!

She came down upon me in fury, but I raced forward in sheer terror. I felt the flames seering my flesh but I raced on, my eyes shut and my arms before me. I could hear the roar of fire all around me; I knew my only hope was to make it to the deck and onto the boat. My feet flew over the planks of the floor and up the crumbling stairs and-

SMACK!

I ran right into Immatra.




Disbelief

-"What in blue blazes are you doing!?" he cried, squirming to get back on his feet.

-"Fire!" I gasped.

-"What? There's no fire here, boy! Look around, not even ah bit o' smoke!" Doc smirked looking down at me as I lay gasping on the deck, "I think this one's ah looney" he said to Immatra under his breath.

I looked around � no fire, no smoke, no Gousu.

-"He probably scared 'imself silly!" Neanezzer added meanly.

-"Get off ah' me!" Immatra growled, shoving me, "What were ya doin' down there anyhow?"

-"Compass�treasure�fire�" I choked, the smoke still burning in my lungs.

-"Treasure?! Ya mean ya really found treasure in there?" Immatra questioned excitedly.

I tried to tell them about Gousu, but my lungs burned and I couldn't get the words out.

-"Forget em'!" Doc grumbled, "He's gone off the deep end! Let's take ah look for ourselves."

Again I tried to stop them, but to no avail. They disappeared into the corridor.

When I could stop my legs from shaking, I managed to stand. I wasn't waiting around for Gousu to burn us all to a crisp! Maybe I had over estimated the size of the flames, but I knew what I saw! The others would find out soon enough, but I was taking the boat and they could swim for all I cared! I was just about to lower myself and the boat into the water when the others emerged.

-"There was no fire down there, mate" said Doc coldly.

-"No treasure, either," added Neanezzer.

-"And I see yer takin' our boat." Immatra finished, "And just where were you going, anyhow? Off to trick da rest of the crew? Ya plan to strand them on 'dis ship, too?"

-"Wait, now!" I stammered, "There was treasure! I saw it! You must not've looked hard enough! And the fire! Gousu and her servants! You must not have been looking in the right spot!"

-"Seriously? Give up, we're not buyin' it." Neanezzer said, rolling his eyes.

-"I told ya this one was trouble - he's ah perfect loony! Why the captain even listens to that flee-bag, Scallywag, is a mystery to me!" Doc grumbled to Immatra.

-"What's 'dat smell?" Immatra interrupted, his nose scrunched up in a grimace.

The smell was faint, but unmistakable - the smell of burning wood.

For a moment all was still. My three companions sniffed the air with uncertainty. Then the deck beneath us began to feel warm, and then began to creak and crackle. Panicked looks began to cross the others' faces. They scrambled to the ship's side just as the center of the deck collapsed in a torrent of smoke and flame.

-"What did I tell you!?" I yelled above the roar of the flames, "This whole ship will be ablaze in minutes!"

-"But- but- we were just down there! There was no fire!" Immatra stammered.

-"Well apparently we were mistaken!" Doc cried.

-"What is that!?" Neanezzer shrieked, pointing breathlessly to the center of the flame.

Within the growing blaze was Gousu! She thrashed and roared like the fire itself, her servants flying out about her like sparks. Her white-hot eyes once again fixed on me � but only for a moment, for she soon took notice of my companions. Her rage seemed to grow in seeing them; she lashed out with an explosion of flames at Neanezzer and Doc as they scrambled to escape � but they were too slow. The flames engulfed them before my very eyes. On the other side of me, Immatra cried out. Gousu's eyes darted to him and she let out another roar. I couldn't stand to watch � I threw myself over the side of the ship, and prayed that I could make it to the ship in one piece.


Safe Haven

The Hippocampus was anchored well away from The Dragon, but I swam with abandon. I was desperate to get away from that ship of death and back onto a safe deck � but then again, when the captain and the others found out what had happened on the ship, would they even let me live? I didn't care, anything was better than dying in that accursed fire!

I reached the ship in utter exhaustion. I don't know how I even found the strength to pull myself up the mooring line. I flopped onto the deck like a fish, laying on my stomach and gasping for breath. My eyelids were getting heavy - I slipped into unconsciousness.

___

-"Where 'ave you been, mate?"

I awoke to find Scally's face staring at me at deck level. I groaned groggily.

-"What? You've been sleeping? We come all this way to find the treasure you were after, and now that we've found it, you're sleeping! Ha! You're a strange one, matey, that's for sure!" Scally laughed, "but really, where were you all this time?"

-"I- I was on the other ship�The Dragon�" I groaned, rubbing the saltwater out of my eyes.

-"Other ship? What are ye babbling about Avi? Ha ha! Ye sound like ah drunkard! Now, come see what we've been doing while ye were off a' gallivantin'."

I managed to pick myself up off the deck and follow Scally. When we reached mid deck, I was flabbergasted to find it covered with piles of treasure!

-"We've all been hard at work haulin' all this up here!" Scally scolded, "An' with you missin', poor Linnio had to dive for it all 'imself! But, don't worry yerself too much, ye hear? The capt'n's pleased as puddin' with ye! Oh! Here he is now!"

Captain Rhaedyr was just inspecting some of the treasure when he noticed me and Scally standing off to the side. He did in indeed look quite pleased, though I'm not sure how pleased pudding can get, so I couldn't make the comparison.

-"Well, Avi, ye really came though! I had me doubts, but judgin' by our little catch here, me trust was not poorly placed!" Rhaedyr exclaimed, pounding me on the back in what was likely a friendly gesture.

-"But- but- �Immatra and Doc and Neanezzer.. They- they're-�" I stuttered.

-"Eh? What about 'em?" Rhaedyr interrupted, looking over his shoulder.

I followed his gaze and to my surprise laid eyes on all three of those crewmembers that moments ago I could've sworn were burnt to a crisp! Well, my relief was great to be sure, but so was my confusion! I pulled the captain aside.

-"Was there not another ship here before�a burnt one?" I asked him.

-"Another ship? No, not unless you mean the sunken one below us�"

-"You mean, you never ordered me, Immatra, Doc and Neanezzer to board a burnt-out ship and explore it for ghosts?"

Rhaedyr stared hard at me. He raised his eye brow and gave me a quizzical look. He then narrowed his eyes and gave me a serious glare.

-"Have ye been drinkin' me rum? Because, despite yer bein' ah new member of this crew, I have to tell ye, if ye have, I'm going to be forced to shoot ye."

Well, would you listen to that! He called me a member of his crew. I rather liked the sound of that.


Conclusion

Well, mate, that's how it happened! That's how I became the navigator on this here ship. Oh, it's a strange story, I know. As to what ever happened, or didn't happen, on that ghost ship, well�I've found that over the years, there are stranger things to worry about than a little old ghost story. Ye know?"

The draik finishes his narration with a sigh. Settling on his stool, he slides open his drawer and withdraws a small bronze compass. He holds it in his claws and rubs it thoughtfully. He seems to be lost in thought.

You'd best leave him to his reminiscing.

The End
(Huzzah!) Crew Mates: ~ Rhaedyr (captain)
~ Immatra (first mate)
~ Linnio(weapons master)
~ Hitmonlee (medic)
~ Phienella (rigging master)
~ Neanezzer (crow's nest/ deckhand)
~ WeelilJimmy (cabin boy)
~ Montjoy (maintenance)
~And me, of course (public relations)

Enemies:

~ Macinokia
~ Gousu






Roleplay:


~"The Isla Del Oscura has often been touched upon in the weird and wondrous tales of many a salty seadog. However, despite its prominent oral history and the many gold-laced legends that surround it, few have ever dared to explore its shores in person. In story, this island, which is known to Spainlanders as "The Isla Del Oscura, but also called by such names as 'The Dark Isle" and "The Blackbird's Bower", is famed as a dumping ground of all wealth and treasures lost on the high seas. Had the legends spoken only of the island's treasures, it could be assured that every gentleman of fortune worth his salt would make said island his immediate destination in hopes of benefiting from the unclaimed wealth � but, like all good stories, there is a most definite drawback. After all, the island wasn't called "The Island of The Dark" due to its pleasant evenings, nor did it earn the name "The Blackbird's Bower" because of its thriving avian population. Rather, legends pinpoint it as the haunting ground of a true-to-life sea monster � a malevolent sea-bird, with all the fierceness and predatory instinct of a barracuda and a sea-hawk combined. Legend has it, this sea monster - Maci, as she's known � uses the island as a nest to hoard her treasures. Ships of all size and stature fe-"

~Yes, Avi! We get the picture! We're pirates fer pete's sake,we know about the island! We don't need ta here what some blasted book has ta say!" Rhaedyr snapped impatiently, cutting Avi's recitation off mid sentence.

~"Well, I just wanted you to know what the experts thought of your little island. According to this book of legends � and I stress that word, legends - The Isle Del Oscura is just an old volcanic island, no more treasure filled than any other scratch of land on the high seas!" Avi, the ship's recently recruited navigator replied smugly as he clapped his tome shut in an aggravated huff.

~"Now listen, you! I'm the capt'n of this ship, and what I says goes! As it happens I've been to The Isla Del Oscura and I've seen the treasure there with me own two eyes!" Rhaedyr growled back.

~"Oh? And I suppose you got a look at the scary fish-bird too, eh?!" Avi sneered.

~"As a matter of fact I di-"

~"Blimey! Are ya two still arguin' over dis'?!" Immatra interrupted, emerging on deck, "What's teh point? We're already here!"

Indeed, the Spectral Hippocampus was quickly approaching the ominous black volcanic island even as the two argued. In truth Avi thought the whole thing was a waste of time � he'd never even heard of the island before the captain had mentioned it a few weeks prior, and he was convinced that if in all his studies and years of experience, he hadn't heard of any "Isla Del Oscura", it couldn't be of any importance. Rhaedyr, the honorable captain of The Spectral Hippocampus, thought differently � which explained their current location off the coast of the island. Regardless of Avi's feelings on the matter, in a few short minutes the ship would reach the fabled Isle.

~~~

~ " I ain't goin'."

~"Under what circumstances do you actually assume that would be an acceptable sentence to give yer Captain? Am I under the impression that you're directly opposing my autonomic rule?"

Nochir drove a hand under is nose, "No, sir. I'm merely offering my opinion that I find this venture utter foolishness and a complete waste of effort and attention."

~"I accept you offering and shall lay it on the altar of suggestions to be burned as tinder for Ryou's cooking fire. You will go on that island and you shall do as I have commanded you. Now, have ye any other opinions you'd like to make known before you leave on yer merry way? Or shall I have you taking Bokuuna's duties at hull with yer face and pearly whites to the barnacles instead of a chisel to remind you of whose command runs this ship?"

Nochir stood silent under Ebinder's scrutinous glare and was completely certain no other captain could intimidate like the one in front of him, the captain of The Phantasmic Basilisk. Despite being of sensitive height, Ebinder was always able to make people sink below his gaze if he willed it so. At least, according to his observations. Or perhaps it was an illusion... In any case, despite being the personal stevedore of the ship, he didn't have much authority over any aspect of the ship.

~"Nay, Capt'n, sir, I haven't anything to add." He spoke, perhaps a bit sullenly, but it wouldn't matter to the captain.

Ebinder grinned then, pointed teeth glistening, "Good lad. Now, remember to try and find some things to help patch up around here, else we'll strand ourselves with naught but our own spitting for substitute for many a thing around 'ere. Rigour," he turned away to address the navigator.

~"A matter of minutes," he responded blandly, unenthralled and unchallenged by his simple task, and seated atop a barrel, his head hanging over one hand, a map in his lap tended to by two others, and three-balls juggling in the fourth.

~"Good," Ebinder nodded before swaggering over to other aspects of the ship to squint at and adjust to his approval.

Nochir was still unsettled.

~~~

~"Bloody map my foot! As if we'd need a map of this bloody island in the first place!" Avi grumbled to himself as he brought his rowboat up to the shore of The Isla Del Oscura. He'd been elected to go ashore before the rest of the crew in order to prepare a "topographical map of the area" to "aid in treasure recovery" as captain Rhaedyr had so eloquently put it - Which Avi asumed to mean 'find something shiny, or don't come back'. However, after dragging the rowboat unto the rocky outcroppings of the island and surveying the grim looking shore, Avi rather felt like an unfortunate penguin pushed by his fellow birds into the water to see if the leopard seals were about.

The island consisted of little more than jagged black volcanic rock, and showed little signs of life, save a dense population of rock crabs and a flock of seagulls which had come to feast on them. The island's foremost feature was a massive volcano � or, rather, the shell of an ancient, inactive volcano � which rose menacingly from the tidal pools and jagged outcroppings which characterized the shore of the island.

~"Well, good job, Avi old boy! You've managed to get on the captain's bad side already!" Avi mused to himself as he made his way inward, "I'd better find something of value if I plan to get off this island�but where on earth on this God-forsaken heap of rock could I possibly find anything � save a few hundred crabs for a cookout, I suppose. But say now, what's this?"

As Avi rounded the last of the tidal pools and slipped through the last rocky outcropping, he came upon a literal graveyard of shipwrecks. Ships of every size and shape lay strewn in pieces across a bed of black sand and rocks. Beneath the ships the ground seemed to writhe with thousands of crabs � which, Avi surmised, must be feeding on the fungi and algae growing on the rotting wood.

~"Well, this will be a start at least," Avi thought, relieved, "Surely one of these ships was carrying a few trinkets which might please the captain."

~~~

Nochir scowled and attempted to rake the sand off his feet by use of the rim of his dingy. He was not pleased to discover that, for the entirety of his stay on the God-forsaken hellhole- or, hellmountain, as it were- he would have to suffer the nasty grit between his toes. He was still uncertain how he had managed to be bullied off the boat without being able to negotiate anything to his advantage. Shifted chores, an extra dessert once in a while... nothin'. Why he was the one chosen to explore, loot, and recon was beyond him. Certainly there were others who could contribute more to the task than he. He surmised that it might have something to do with presumed expendability in the face of a potential, resident threat.

You only have to be faster than the slowest outrunning the bear, as it were.

He snorted and chucked the oars back into the boat, snatching up a pack and slinging it over his shoulder. He removed a bottle of rum he'd smuggled from the ship and latched it and an accompanying cup to his waist. At least he'd have a friend on the island. Or five, all likely laden with coconuts, but, given his likely state of mind should he make acquaintance with said friend, he probably wouldn't care.

Bah, with any luck it wouldn't come to that. He'd find the island resolutely dull, pack up, and leave.

He trekked down the beach strip, but after seeing nothing but hoards of crabs, he decided to heard further inward of of the coast. He took every chance possible to bathe his feet of sand in tidal pools only to have them attract more grit again and again. He was beginning to plan his ~"I knew it and I told you so" speech on the utter idiocy of dumping him on the island when he saw some wooden planks sticking out of the ground. They'd been there quite some time, bearing many holes and varieties of fungus, feeding all manner of vermin life and crabs. Looking ahead, Nochir saw evidence that these were not the only planks on the island and began following the trail to a black area further inward.

~~~

Avi mince-stepped across the crabby shipyard in search of a vessel with better prospects than the cheap fishing dinghies that he'd seen thus far. Just a hundred yards or so inland, there were a few larger ships which seemed to have remained for the most part intact. He figured since they were so well preserved these ships had actually run aground here some time back instead of floating here as it seemed the smaller vessels had � which meant that whatever cargo they'd been holding was likely still aboard.

Personally Avi couldn't wait to climb aboard one of those larger ships � they looked pleasantly un-crab-infested. As it was Avi couldn't take five steps but to find three or four of the little buggers painfully latched onto his tail - He'd shake them off with vengeance and listen happily to the clatter they made when they hit the surrounding rocks. Finally, though, he reached the hull of the ship closest to him, and using his arm-like wings in conjunction with his actual arms, he managed to hoist himself up the bleached-white hull of the vessel. He earnestly hoped that he'd find a treasure trove awaiting him on the top of the deck so that he could return to the ship, but upon reaching it, he found, not surprisingly, that his hope was in vain. The deck was empty, save for a few odd crabs and a spattering of dried seaweed. There was still hope for the cargo holds, of course, and judging by the large size of the ship, there were several of them just beneath his feet.

~"But what a bother it'll be to search them all�" Avi thought wearily, "This sun is merciless and it's sure to be baking below deck. Why can't we just ransack and pillage to get treasure! We are pirates, after all! This isn't what I signed up for � scavaging for treasure when I could be plundering something - fancy that! I ought to have a word with the captain, that's what! When I get back to the ship, I'll just sit down and say 'Capt'n! I wan-'"

Just as Avi was about to let the captain know what's what, he noticed a figure trudging slowly through the shipyard. At first he thought it was one of his fellow shipmates, come to bid him back to the ship, but in squinting he saw that it indeed was not one of his ship mates at all, but a complete stranger to him!

~"Well!" Avi thought, " this is an interesting turn of events, isn't it! I wonder what brought this fellow to this God-forsaken crab's nest? Perhaps his ship ran aground�or perhaps he's looking for this island's fool treasure too. Well, either way, I suppose there's no reason not to be civil and greet him. I may be pirate now, but I can still be civil�hmm, I suppose I best not mention the pirate part to him if I meet him, hehe."

And with that, Avi called out to the figure in the distance.

~~~

/Aye, what's this?/ Nochir thought, turning his gaze from the ground, where it was originally seeking sharp objects which could impale his feet, to look ahead and up. The sun had taken an unfortunate position in front of him, attempting to seer his eyes with blindness and devour him with heat, or at least, in Nochir's pessimistic opinion, that's what it seemed to do. He squinted so his eyes nearly closed and used a hand to shadow them. Somewhere up ahead, perched atop one of the ships, he made out some sort of white figure hailing him. Perhaps a treasure seeker? Or maybe he needs parts to fix his ship... /Either way,/ Nochir thought, /he probably wouldn't appreciate my company or be willin' to help if he knew I was a pirate. Best to keep the evidence of that secret./

He retied his bottle closer to his backside, and threw his vest over it. He then proceeded to, discreetly check for any tattoos. As a chameleon, of sorts, he often entertained himself by creating his own tattoos all over his body by merely changing fur colors in certain locations. Tattoos of his preference would be liable to cause some degree of suspicion. After sure he'd wiped himself of every false tattoo, which were thankfully few small, and for the most part hidden this time, he was about to remove his hat when he realized he was far too close now to not make the speaker wonder why. He'd have to think of some excuse if it ever came up.

Nochir waved amiably and tried to remember some of the fancy English talk Ebinder used, a somewhat failed effort due to his accent, "Aey, there frien'. To what do I owe the pleas'ur?"

~~~

~"Oh, just an unfortunate sailor who drew ah short straw," Avi called back to the zafara below, "The name's Avi! And I'm frightful glad to see I'm not the only one picking about this dry old island � say! What exactly are ya looking for? Perhaps we can help each other out!"

Avi was quite pleased to see the stranger acknowledge his greeting. Had Avi been a better pirate, he would have likely forgone conversation, run the stranger through and picked his pockets for money and rum - but, being new at his profession, he still considered polite conversation the first step in any good business dealing.

He figured if he could get this stranger to search the ships with him under the pretense of "helping" each other, he could easily kill the fellow later if the occasion called for it. After all, that was a piratey thing to do, right?

~"Ah, misfortune alike. I too was handed the short straw. Me Capt'n sent me here looking for stuff what might be used for a patch job. I reckon if our interests lie similarly, we could help one anoth'r. Name's Nochir, but fortune gen'rally calls me Cheers. You can use either." He smiled warmly, extending a hand for shaking, all the while contemplating how much of a threat this fellow was. If things turned sour, he could always smash his head in or tie him up for high tide.

As a stevedore, quite familiar with lifting loads and observing the fellows around him, Nochir was well aware this Avi was a strong fellow, extra limbs aside, even. Rather amiable too. What might his captain say if he brought him back? Oh, perhaps he could be convinced to join the crew, Ebinder'd certainly like another able-bodied sailor aboard. Avi looked like he was skilled in many areas too. Oh yes, if this Avi proved malleable to his suggestions, perhaps he could trick him on board. Might do well with Ides ((Hun)) as a secondary bossun, or bossun's assistant. Another crew member could be just as valuable as silver and gold.

~~~

Avi reached over the bow of the beached ship and shook Cheers' hand vigorously.

~"Well, mate, it's good to have your acquaintance!" Avi insisted congenially, "I was just preparing myself for the onerous task of searching this ship here. She seems to be fairly well intact compared to the other wrecks in this yard � I figure she's liable to have plenty of fresh supplies still in her belly. What say we join forces and search her together? We can start with the lower cabins and work our way up, how does that sound?"

Seeing his new acquaintance up close, Avi felt a twinge of suspicion. This fellow looked a little rough around the edges, though he seemed friendly enough. He wasn't dressed in any normal sailor attire, nor that of a fisher or navyman. It didn't worry him much, though - he was at least twice the size of the zafara. As a navigator, he may have had one of the least physically demanding jobs on a ship, but he could certainly hold his own in a scuffle. Though, he would be sure not to turn his back on his wily-looking new friend.

~~~

~"Aye, that sounds agreeable," Nochir nodded, absently rubbing one of his horns between forefinger and thumb."Mind, ah, helping me up? I'm afraid I'm not so tall as you are, nor do I have your reach." Nochir reached an arm up. Being so amiable with this fellow was easy, for now. However, he still had to remain on guard, Avi could be dangerous.He couldn't see much from where he was presently standing, but he thought he saw the curlings of a potentially mammoth tattoo crawling over his shoulders. Normal sailors did not have large, tentacle tattoos. Normal sailors had hearts on their upper arm with "Mom" written in floral text on a banner, anchors on their forearms, Shenkuuian text and dragons, and the like.

Nochir began to feel a little uncomfortable. The Draik was easily twice as tall as he was. This could possibly be amended, but it still meant a massive disadvantage if Avi turned out to be a vicious enemy, and a severe discomfort to himself.

~~~

~"Haha! Well, of course, forgive me - I sometimes forget that I'm a might larger than the majority of the population - here, let me give you a hand." Avi offered one of his limb-like wings and helped Nochir to the top of the deck, " There ye are. Now we best get started if we want to beat the sunset."

There didn't seem much threat of that, as the sun was still blazing defiantly above them, but Avi was becoming more and more eager to get back to his cozy cabin and out of this whole little mess. He made his way over to the stairs which led below deck and peered down.

~"Well, it's a bit dim down there, but this old deck is just decrepit enough to let in light for seeing � we shouldn't need any additional lighting once our eyes adjust." Avi stated, starting down into the cabin below.

~~~

~"Aye, thank ye." Nochir said, as he was pulled up. He landed a bit unsteadily, and spiraled his arms a bit for balance. Once realized, he realized he had picked up a passenger before being towed on deck. Frowning he turned around and reached for his tail, the fuzzy tangles which had been knotted like a mop by the cabin lad in a fit of mischievousness, and yanked a crab off it, chucking it away. As if making a statement about his superiority, he kicked one of the others scuttling across the deck.

Nochir then turned to follow Avi into the belly of the ship. He was shocked at first by the complete darkness in comparison to the blazing sun outside, and held a hand forward, his claws barely brushing one of Avi's wing-limbs. Slowly, he removed the safety of his arm and began glancing around more.

Avi led the way down the dimly lit corridor, trying to find the innermost hold. This, he figured would be where the most valuable cargo was stored � as was the custom in most ships. Finally the corridor opened into a large room, which, being furthest from the sun-drenched deck, was the darkest they'd been in yet.

~~~

When Avi's eyes adjusted, he surveyed the room. There were boxes, barrels and bags stacked to the ceiling by every wall and more of the same broken to pieces in the middle of the room. From the looks of it the ship had had a good thrashing before finding herself here on the beach.

~"This looks like as good a place as any," Avi said, turning back to Cheers, "I'll search through the starboard side and you can take the other, and we can pile anything that looks salvageable in the center so we can have our pick when we're finished."

~~~

~"Aye, that sounds amenable." Nochir said, grinning a little and then turned his designated section. He crawled through holes in stacks of rubble and crawled over them again and again. Everything he found went into his pack. Well, everything except for one dusty and tarnished old coin he found jammed between floorboards. He scraped at it with his claws for a good ten minutes at least before it budged. It didn't even really look valuable, but he pocketed it anyway.

Once, a stack buckled beneath his weight and he fell to a hair landing with a small yelp. He had to carefully pull a couple shards of broken glass from his forearm after that fall, and was, from then on, a little more careful. Anytime his pack began to get a little too heavy (which was, regrettably, not very often) he would gently dump the contents in their growing pile.

~~~

Avi rooted through crates and barrels, searching for the telltale clank or glimmer of precious metals. His search thus far was rather disappointing � he found little of value save a few rusty who-knows-what's lying here and there. He paid little attention to the supplies he was supposedly searching for, though he tossed a few odd and ends on the pile so that he wouldn't rouse suspicion.

As Avi attempted to push aside a pile of splintered barrels to reach some more promising ones further back, he felt a stinging pinch on his tail.

~"Yow! Blasted crabs!" Avi cursed under his breath, giving his tale a strong flick to loose the crabby offender. The motion caused a tall stack of barrels to tumble over and come crashing down behind Avi. Just as the barrels came clattering down a yelp of surprise emanated from beneath them. Knowing full well that crabs did not, indeed, 'yelp', Avi turned back in surprise.

~"What was that for!?" Cried a small desert-clad kacheek, wide-eyed and breathing heavily, pushing a broken barrel off his head.

~"Neanezzer?!" Avi whisper, throwing a quick glance to be sure Cheers was not watching. Fortunately, with all the debris, they were well hidden for the moment, "What on earth are you doing here?"

~"WELL," Snapped the young kacheek angrily, brushing himself off and giving Avi a most disagreeable frown, "I WAS here to help ye search the island, but NOW I rather think I'll just go back to the ship! What do ye mean by smacking people around with that blamed tail ah yers!?"

~"Oh, don't be like that, Nezzy, I took you for a crab, that's all!" Avi offered cheerfully, "(You are awful crabby)" He added under his breath.

~"What was that?" Neanezzer puffed threateningly.

~"Nothing, nothing, boy � do keep your voice down, we're not alone." Avi muttered softly, motioning towards his new companion, whose head could now barely be seen over the debris.

Neanezzer strained to get a good look at the zafara who was scavenging on the other side of the room. When he did get a good look at him, his eyes grew very wide and he let out a little gasp. He turned back to Avi and, grabbing hold of one of the draik's ears, yanked him down to eye level.

~"What is he doing here?!" Neanezzer whispered frantically.

~"Well, at the moment he's helping me search the ship." Avi stated plainly.

~"Helping you?! Don't you know who that is?!" Nezzy whispered urgently.

~"Nochir, also known as Cheers?" Avi offered confusedly. To this, Nezzy smacked his forehead with a paw.

~"Ack! Don't you know anything? He's one of them!" Nezzy fumed, yanking poor Avi's head closer to his and shaking it violently, "He's a member of The Phantasmic Basalisk! THE PHANTASMIC BASALISK FOR GOD'S SAKE! Our sworn enemies! The bane of our existence! DIDN'T YOU LISTEN WHEN YOU WERE BEING SWORN ONTO THE SHIP! If Rhaedyr finds out you were consorting with the enemy, he'll hang yer tattooed hide over his hearth! And he'll make me into ah stuffed footstool just in spite!"

Avi tried to carefully remove his head from the death grip of the hysterical little kacheek, but was yanked back before he could succeed.

~"Wait! Wait! I have an idea! Oh! This is perfect, Avi! If we can convince this guy to come back to our ship without going to his first, we can take him as ah prisoner! Just think how pleased the Captain would be! And not only that but it would give us the jump on The Basalisk!"

~"Well, um, sure � could you let go? �please?" Avi stammered. Nezzy released him and peaked over the debris once more to have a look at Cheers.

~"Now," Nezzy whispered back, "I'm going to leave getting him on the ship to you, � he'd recognize me for sure � but mind ye, once he sees The Hippocampus, he's liable to figure the plan out, so you'll have to use brute force from there, alright? Good luck then, I'm gonna take my dinghy and start rowing to the ship, so as to tell the Rhaedyr of our plan."

Nezzy carefully and quietly crept towards the exit and made his way off the ship, leaving a very confused and bewildered Avi gingerly rubbing his poor mistreated ear.

~"Well," Avi thought, "I guess I best get started."

~~~

Nochir was getting a bit frustrated by now. He was sent for silver and gold and pearls and parts, the most interesting of which evaded his keen eye. He began to flick his ears in irritation. With no treasure, tricking Avi on board was beginning to look more and more like the best option for him to take. But... there were more ships... the sun was probably still high...

He stood up, brushed himself off, and kicked a crab which had scuttled too close to him. He shuffled over to the pile and began to inspect the gatherings. Not much useful, a few good ropes and planks, maybe a couple fuses, but that was it for the most part. He scratched his temple with a claw and then crossed his arms, brows furrowed, contemplating.

~"I'm going up for a moment, get a breath of fresh air." He stated finally and started trudging up the stairs. He tightly closed his eyes against the brilliant and vindictive flash of the sun which attacked his dark-adjusted eyes. He looked out the hole to the deck and, stepping onto it, finally peered around him, looking for more ships. More options. Something shiny. He absently removed his bottle of rum from his belt and took a swig, then stood there buried in thought, the neck of the bottle held gently by his hand hanging at his side.

~~~

~"Well," Avi thought, watching Cheers leave the cabin for fresh air, "That fixes my problem of getting him out of here, I suppose�but how to convince him to return to my dinghy?"

He walked to the pile of supplies they had gathered in the middle and began to rummage through it � if he could find a few good heavy things that he "needed" for his ship, he could probably goad Cheers into helping him carry it. He found a couple of barrels which he filled with planks. They would be convincing enough, at least. Hoisting one onto his shoulder with his limb-like wing, he made his way to the surface of the ship, rolling the second barrel before him.

Reaching the top he found Nochir staring idly out at the shipyard.

~"Boy! It feels good up here with the breeze, doesn't it! It was practically an oven down in that cabin," Avi commented as he rolled the barrel up next to Cheers, "These two barrels of planks are a good start to the supplies I need. I figure I'll take them to my dinghy so as to clear out a little room in that cramped hold. I don't suppose you'd care to help me with one of 'em � my dinghy's tied up not far from here, and, of course, I'll return the favor when you've found what you where looking for."

~~~

Nochir thought for a moment. Avi could actually be trying to take things and run, or he could actually want the help. His boat would be on the beach, and if Nochir suspected him to flee, he wouldn't have to drag him very far if he was forced to knock him out.

Yeah, al' righ'." He slurred, returning the bottle to his belt. He turned to Avi and wrapped his arms around the barrel, heaving it upward, arching his back some for counterbalance. He took a couple steps back, and then raced for the edge of the deck, taking a flying leap to the ground. He landed hard, and tilted and tottered for a while, racing over the black sand, trying to keep hold of the barrel and its contents and also avoid skewering his feet on ship shrapnel.

Once sure footing was regained again, he temporarily set the barrel down and leaned against it.

~"Lead on." He said.

~~~

~"Ouch!" Avi thought as he watched his companion take the hard landing, "Something tells me there's more than water in that bottle of his - he seems to be getting a little�reckless�the better for our plan though, I guess."

Lowering himself down from the ship, Avi motioned toward a break in the rocks, where his dinghy was moored in a tiny cove just beyond. He began to lead the way, but when he felt as though Cheers had a good idea of where they were going, he lagged behind. He wasn't certain how visible The Hippocampus was from the beach and he didn't want to take a chance that Cheers might see the ship and make a break for it - being behind him, Avi would be ready to pounce should Cheers try to run.

They had nearly reached the break in the rocks, and Avi readied himself for anything.

~~~

...to be continued...



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